V1/2/3 Not Worth Modding?

[Louche]

I have a PS2, one of the early versions, either 1, 2 or 3 and a professional modder told me that they are not worth putting a chip into based on the (fact?) that they have weak lasers, weak motherboards and whatnot and would just be better to pawn it and buy a newer version PS2. I am not a hardcore PS2-er, and don't plan to be playing it a lot so I was wondering if this is true, or if I should worry? Would it be ok to mod-chip it? I plan on putting a DUO2 SE into it if it is. Thanks very much.